Former resident and Mud Bay landowner Dave Walker recently spent 10 days at his beachfront cabin. Besides visiting across-the-bay neighbors Randy and Mira Ericksen, he worked on his place. “Other than that, I saw some other friends from six feet away, yelling into the wind. It was an interesting trip,” he said. Walker is a fine woodworker who has created about 15 gowns and dresses from wood for exhibits and Wearable Art shows. About half his outfits are in museums in Juneau, New Zealand and the East Coast. He lives in Eugene, Ore. Son Dawson and daughter Eliza live in Portland.
Clara Weishahn and Alex Cohen visited Haines during the fair. They hiked Mount Ripinsky and went boating with Joe Jacobson, Merrick Bochart and their daughter Yarona. Clara gained certification as a master gardener during the pandemic and she, mom Carrie Weishahn and sister Amy Weishahn now trade gardening tips.
Jila and Willa Stuart spent a week last month in San Diego, visiting Jila’s sister Shirin Handjani. A highlight included a trip up to Los Angeles to see the World Series champions Dodgers play at home. The Dodgers crushed the Arizona Diamondbacks, 22-1, notching the most runs ever scored by the team in Los Angeles. Previous to 1957, the Dodgers played in Brooklyn.
Former resident Daniel Luckow has written a book pleading his innocence nearly three decades after his 1992 conviction for second-degree murder in the starvation death of his two-month-old daughter, Rebecca. “Changed Forever” was printed in 2019 by Newman Spring Publishing. Luckow was living in Arizona when the book came out. He served more than eight years of a 20-year prison sentence.
Resident Nora Krake hosted three of her sisters during the fair: Eileen James of Lindon, Utah, Margaret Turnbow of McMinville, Ore. and Kathy Enright of Juneau. A trip to Steve Kroschel’s wildlife park was a highlight. Due to the pandemic, they limited their time at the fair, only stopping at food booths and to look around. The sisters grew up in the Bristol Bay village of Ugashik. Nora, Eileen and Margaret lived at Haines House during school years growing up. Nora was the oldest of 10 children in her family.
Lani Hotch reports villagers are staying busy with fishing, gardening and other projects despite the COVID-19 lockdown in Klukwan. Vegetables grown in the village community garden are shared each Tuesday. With a grant from Spruce Root, villagers also are refurbishing the old generator shed into cold and dry storage for Klukwan Mercantile, the store there. Space freed up in the store will allow room for more retail items for villagers.
Susie McCartney asks folks to keep watch for Miss Pearly Baker, her family’s long-haired gray cat, missing since just before the big storm Aug. 8. Miss Pearly has a white face, chest and belly. She’s about four years old and lives near the start of Small Tracts Road. A HARK rescue cat, Pearly is friendly and low-key and dearly missed by family, Susie said. Pearly also answers to Pearl, Kiki and Miss Kitty. Call 303-3038.
Business has been brisk at the post office for the new Alaska Native raven stamp. Issued July 30, it’s a formline design by Tlingit artist Rico Worl of Juneau that depicts the climax of the story of Raven bringing light to the world. In black, white and gold, the Forever stamp shows a Raven exiting a smokehouse. Postal clerk Aimee Jacobson advised customers to buy now, as the cost of Forever stamps will go up 3 cents Sept. 1.
Elena Saunders and Aurora Wilde served as volunteers for the duration of the Haines Library’s annual summer reading program. The program ended with a Tlingit Park picnic on July 28, attended by 60 readers; 136 young readers participated this year.
Matt and Holly Davis, son J.C. and daughter Meg made a recent trip to Pennsylvania and New York City. They made excursions in the area while Meg, 9, attended the week-long International Gymnastics Camp in East Stroudsburg, Pa. The Davises saw the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and enjoyed hikes and a raft trip in the Pocono Mountains. “I warned my children to be very polite about the Pennsylvania mountains. They were very gracious,” Holly said. In New York City, Holly toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art while Matt and J.C. visited the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The family’s next trip will be taking son Mark to East Lansing, Mich. to start college at Michigan State University.
Johnny White’s brother Tom White of Ryde, Calif. and his sweetheart Carrie Ponsetti visited Haines along with Carrie’s sister and her husband. The visitors went out on John’s new boat Jolly Mon and made trips to Skagway and to a music night at Greg Bigsby’s. At the fair, Tom joined up with John’s band The Fishpickers to sing “Streets of Bakersfield.” The group returned to Juneau aboard the Jolly Mon, stopping on south Sullivan Island.